Alison King

'Alison King''' was born on 3rd March 1973 and was a dental nurse before taking up acting. She first appeared in Coronation Street on 22nd March 2004 as Mrs Fanshaw, a woman who seduced Jason Grimshaw when he and Charlie Stubbs installed a radiator in her house.

She returned two years later in the regular role of Carla Connor on 1st December 2006 and was immediately involved in the major storylines involving the newly introduced Connor family.

King's role as Carla Connor has involved high-profile storylines. In 2010 she was involved in the death of Tony Gordon storyline, announced in April and aired in June, in which she had to be kidnapped in the Underworld factory. For these scenes, she had to be tied to a chair with her hands tied behind her back and have her mouth gagged with gaffer tape. Of filming the scenes, she said "We were tied up and gagged for a week and a half. My wrist was sore at the end! It was a different experience anyway, acting for two weeks with your hands tied behind your back on a chair." King said the Siege Week was "great television and I'm really pleased to be part of it. It's nice to wrap it all up, too." King and Julie Hesmondhalgh joked that they developed a “telepathic understanding” while they were gagged, saying “We could tell from our eyes what we were trying to relate.” Several remixes of King tape gagged have been made on YouTube. At a preview screening, she expressed worries about her performance, saying "The first time watching something back is hard, because you're over critical. But I will watch it again when it is aired next week. I have no idea what people will think of it. I hope they like it. I have no idea if I've done it justice or not."The episodes were the most expensive the show had ever produced, costing £1million. King performed all stunts herself, except one that consisted of a jump from a balcony, and suffered minor injuries. The storyline was a hit with audiences and critically acclaimed.

Immediately prior to Coronation Street she appeared in Dream Team (when she dated her co-star Jim Alexander), Cold Feet and Holby City and was once the girlfriend of Philip Middlemiss (Des Barnes who encouraged her to take up acting)

Born in Leicester, most of acting training was achieved at the North Cheshire Community Theatre and her television debut was in Brookside. In February 2009 Alison went on maternity leave but returned intermittently later in the year. In 2016, she left the programme to pursue other projects but returned in full-time in December 2017.